Top safety device for rifles



March 29, 1949. w. l. SMITH 2,465,699

TOP SAFETY DEVICE FOR RIFLES Filed Dec. 12, 3.946 dwrtrv INVENTOR ia amm I dM/TH BY %@MM ATTORN EYS Patented Mar. 29,1949

TOP SAFETY DEVICE FOR RIFLES Wilfred I. Smith, Chicopee Falls, Mass, assignor to Savage Arms Corporation, Utica, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application December 12, 1946, Serial No. 715,800

1 Claim.

This invention relates to safety devices for the firing mechanism of rifles of the general type shown in Patent No. 634,034 of October 3, 1899. In rifles of this kind, a reciprocable bolt for openthe bolt forward for closing the breech and the safety device in on position;

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the bolt in retracted position and the safety device in off ing and closing the breech and for cooking the position; piece, is operated by an up and down swinging Fig. 3 is a detail section with the parts as in handle or operating lever pivoted at the under- Fig. 1 and the safety device in off position; and side of the receiver and embodying a trigger Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary view of the unguard as a part thereof. derside of the receiver looking in the direction of An object of the present invention is to provide arrows AA in Fig. 2. a safety device of simple and effective character Referring more particularly to he d a which may be operated to on or ofi position the gun frame comprises the receiver I and gun by a thumb piece at the top side of the receiver stock 2 joined together at a hand grip portion and within easy reach for manipulation when indicated at 3. The reciprocable bolt 4 is slidable grasping the hand grip of the tock, back and forth in the receiver in the usual man- A further object is to provide a safety device nor by the h Op e lever h s h nd onwhich will lock the operating lever against movecratin lev r s p v a y u to h u s e ment whenever the trigger is blocked by an on O e refieiver by e hinge p 6, a d provides position of said safety. This is for the purpose a guard for the tr e a Shown and is formed of preventing an accidental breech opening movewith a handle i at the rear thereof. A curved ment of the operating lever when the safety is m 55 n e a W th handle @Xtends p y on. Otherwise, it could happen th t i carryand forwardly through the receiver and has an ing the gun loaded a cocked through thi operative connection at its forward end 9 with woods that a branch of a tree or other obstrucusual Cam Slide e latter f m ng an intion might catch in the handle of the operating 26 tegr p Of the boll? lever to throw the breech open and eject the The firing mechanism is of the usual character cartridge. for rifles of this type and comprises said bolt with A further advantage will be appreciated from its hammer or striker H slidably carried in said the fact that in rifles of this character, the cockbolt and having at its rear end a downwardly ing of the hammer accompanies a reciprocation p oj t hook D O 52 a p e to be en a ed of the bolt and the sear action requires that the by h scar 3 h the piece is cocked s wn trigger give way slightly when said hammer is in Fig. 1. The sear i3 is pivoted at M to the cooked. A safety device which merely blocks the receiver and is provided with the usual sear spring trigger might be inadvertently pushed to on 15. The trigger it is pivoted as at I? in the reposition after firing and before the bolt is receiver and has a forwardly extending notched tracted for recocking. If in such a situation the arm it oper iv lv nc s d hr h p n t wi h operating lever were subsequently swung down to said sear E3. The tr e l is so formed W th retract the bolt, with its accompanying cooking a tail piece 20 extending from the rear side thereaction, it would meet a blocked trigger and a of for coaction with the safety device as will be breakage might result therefrom. Insurance described, and the handle extension 3 is provided against such a contingency is provided in my with alaterally extending lug 25 also for coaction present safety device by having the same con- W th S d S e y devicestructed so as to lock the operating lever against The safety device comprises a vertically exmovement whenever the trigger is blocked by the tending lock lever 22 pivotally mounted within on position of the safety. This is accomplished the receiver on pin 23, the latter being carried by a relatively simple design and arrangement in a mounting bracket 2d fastened by screw stud of parts which involves a minimum of alteration 25 to the receiver. The lock lever 26 is vertically in the construction of such standard type of positioned in the receiver side by side with the rifle, and can therefore be added to the rifle at extension 8 of said hand operating lever. As low cost. shown in Fig. 4a, the bottom of the receiver is The full and complete description of my invenformed with a slot at 26 for the hand operating tion will be given in connection with the accomlever extension 3, and a slot at 27 for the lock panying drawings in which lever 22 and with a wider slot 28 forwardly there- Fig. l is a sectional view through the receiver of through which the trigger it? extends. oi the rifle showing the firing mechanism with The upper end 29 of the loci: lever 22 is engaged in a notched portion 30 of a thumb piece 3! which is slidably mounted upon the top side of the gun frame and more particularly at the top forward part of the hand grip portion 3, so that it will be in convenient position for operation by the thumb when one is grasping said hand grip portion. A bent spring 32 and pin 33 are cooperatively associated with this thumb piece 3| so as to yieldingly hold the same in either of its on or off positions. The lower end of the lock lever 22 isformed into a foot portion 34 with a toe at 35 adapted to coact with tail 20 of the trigger, and a notched heel at 36 adapted to coact with the lug 2| of the hand operating lever.

The operation of the safety device is as follows: When the hand operating lever is home with the hammer cocked, as shown in Fig. 1, the thumb piece 3| may be positioned rearwardly to its on position. This will bring the toe 35 in position above the tail 20 of the trigger l6 and block the same from being pulled. At the same time the notched heel 36 of said lever 22 will engage the lug 2| of the lever extension 8 and lock the hand lever from movement. Thus, when the safety is on, both trigger and the hand operating lever are restrained from movement, and when the safety is positioned forward to its off position, both of these elements of the gun are free for operation as shown by the position of the parts in Fig. 3.

What I claim is:

The combination of safety mechanism with a rifle of the type comprising a frame including a receiver and gun stock, firing mechanism including a trigger, a reciprocable bolt and a hand lever operatively connected therewith and pivoted to the underside of said receiver for up and down swinging movement in reciprocating said bolt,

saidsafety mechanism comprising a. flat one-piece lock lever, a mounting bracket fastened to the receiver, said lever being pivoted on said bracket centrally of the lever and disposed vertically in said frame with its upper end adjacent the top of the gun stock and its lower end at the underside of the receiver, a finger piece on the top side of said gun stock portion of the frame movable to an off and an on position and having a depending portion with a forked notch extending within the frame and receiving the upper end of said fiat lock lever in said notch, a pin on said depending portion with a bent spring biased against the pin and anchored to the stock to yieldably hold said finger piece and lever in either position of adjustment, the lower end por tion of said lock lever being formed with a toe and a notched heel, said trigger having a tail engageable by said toe and said hand lever having a lug on the side surface thereof engageable by said notched heel, said lowerend portion of the lock lever lying in a lateral plane at one side of the path of movement of the end lever, said toe and heel simultaneously engaging the trigger and lug on the hand lever to lock both against movement when said lock lever is moved to "on position.

WILFRED I. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 433,260 Walsh July 29, 1890 776,381 Brooks Nov. 29, 1904 

